2008 Visitor Events

The following was sent to Los Amigos by the Staff of the Valles Caldera NP. It details the special activities that are coming up:

Spontaneous Visitor Activities / Just Show Up!

· No-fee hiking on Coyote Call and Valle Grande trails (along Highway 4). Available 7 days a week, sunrise until dark.

· $5 per person unguided hike (with trail guide) around Cerro La Jara (at Valle Grande Staging Area). Available during gate hours, May thru August, with limited hours (10-2) during the elk hunt in September.

· $5 per person guided, 1 hour geology walks at 10AM and Noon at Valle Grande Staging Area, weather permitting, May thru October.

· $5 per person guided, 1 hour ranch history van tours at 2PM and 4PM, May thru October (2PM only in September and October during the elk hunts).

Advance Reservation-Required Visitor Activities, May thru October
(With space-available possibilities at our Valle Grande Staging Area)

Throughout the Season Fee Events (see our website for dates and details):
· Wildlife viewing van tours most every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening.
· Unguided hiking on three scenic trails.
· Horseback riding opportunities on select weekends (bring your own horse).
· Caldera-wide mountain bike events, and select-trail mountain bike riding on certain weekends (bring your own bike).
· Adult and youth fishing clinics on select dates.
· Seasonal fishing by lottery; fall season closes 6/29.

Date-Specific, Interpreted/Guided Fee Programs
(see our website for details):
· Guided hikes on Cerros del Abrigo, Cerro la Jara, and in the Valle Grande – 6/23, 6/28, 6/29, 7/7, 7/17, 7/25, 8/7, 8/16, 8/24, 9/25

· PLUS THESE INTERPRETED PROGRAMS……

· Rincon de los Soldados
· Come help us search for the location of the 1851-52 U.S. Dragoon fort in the Valle Grande. This fort was established to protect the hay camp used by Fort Marcy in Santa Fe. It was abandoned sometime in 1852, but later reoccupied in 1863 to deter Navajo raiding paths through the Caldera and became know as Camp Valles Grandes. The exact fort location has been lost to history and no known visible remains exist. The thrill of the hike is the search and possibly finding the site. Jim Trout, Preserve Interpreter, will take you on a five-mile hike starting near the headwaters of the East fork of the Jemez River and going across open grassland terrain and into Valle Canyon following the old military road to Santa Fe.
6/19, 7/4, 8/8, 9/1

· Life Under the Partido System
· Jim Trout, Preserve Interpreter, will tell the tale of a now vanished way of life on the early 20th Century Baca Location #1. It was the time of ‘Caporales, Vaqueros, Pastores, Camperos, Partidarios, and Tasquiladores’ under a Partido management system that divided the profits and risks of the uncertain sheep raising business. It was a hard life, of low pay, severe working conditions and danger, in an era when a herder’s influence and stature was determined by the number of sheep that herder owned. Come walk on an easy meander through the History Grove, as Jim spins his tale.
7/11, 8/22, 9/18

· The History of Timbering
· Join Preserve Interpreter Jim Trout on an easy walk through the History Grove, where you will hear the story of how the timber industry got started on ‘The Baca’. The History Grove is a beautiful stand of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir, with many trees well over 300 years old. That grove was spared the saw thanks to the efforts of one man, Yale Weinstein, who insisted that some of the old growth be preserved for future generations. Had it not been for his efforts, this stand of old-growth trees most likely would not exist. Join us for an opportunity to relax and reflect a bit on the past days of the Valles Caldera before any logging operations altered the native ecosystem.
6/27, 7/19, 8/18

· General Archaeology - Van Tour

· People have depended on the bountiful resources available within the caldera for thousands of years. On this van tour, you’ll experience the sites, artifacts, and landscapes of the past with VCT archaeologists as you explore the interior of the Preserve. Once poorly understood, the archaeological record of the caldera is being pieced into a clearer picture of how people lived in the past – how they hunted game, gathered plants, herded sheep, and raised cattle. Don’t miss this chance to see firsthand some of the most unique and previously unseen historic and prehistoric archaeological sites in the Jemez Mountains.
7/24, 9/10

· Obsidian Quarries – Archeology Van Tour
· The large dome near the center of the caldera, today called Cerro del Medio, is the source of some of the finest quality obsidian in the western United States. Obsidian from the caldera was widely transported across North America in the prehistoric past for use as spear points and arrowheads. This van tour will bring you directly to the source – the vast quarries of Cerro del Medio. At these quarries, you’ll walk around with a VCT archaeologist looking at thousands of glittering artifacts while learning how obsidian tools were manufactured.
6/13, 8/4

· Field Houses – Archeology Van Tour
· Banco Bonito, a large volcanic formation in the southwestern corner of the Preserve, was intensively used in the past for prehistoric farming. From about A.D. 1325 to A.D. 1425, farmers built hundreds of small stone structures, called field houses, where they stayed and watched over crops. With a VCT archaeologist, you’ll visit a variety of these farming settlements and learn about the crucial role they played in Jemez prehistory. You’ll also learn about the logging history of Banco Bonito and how folks made a living from the bountiful Ponderosa pine stands.
7/10, 8/21

· Botany Van Tour
· With all the winter and spring moisture this year, we are looking forward to wonderful displays of flowers in the caldera. This botanical tour will visit plants in several different habitats: a wetland, a mature open forest, sunny grassland, stream sides, and perhaps a small canyon. The pace will be relaxed, with only short strolls from van to flowers. Our tour guide is a botanist with over thirty years experience in the Jemez who delights in finding special gems to show lovers of native plants. A botanical tour of the Preserve will allow the public to increase their knowledge of the Jemez plant world while allowing an excellent means of viewing some of the back country areas on the Preserve.
6/21, 8/23

· Geology Van Tour
· The Valles Caldera is one of three active calderas in the mainland United States and the hot magma is only three miles below your feet when standing in the Valle Grande. Fraser Goff, retired geologist for LANL and adjunct professor at UNM, has been working on the Preserve for many years and has authored numerous books and papers dealing with the geology of the caldera. With the help of his geologist wife, Cathy Goff (retired from US Geological Survey), he conducts a fact filled tour of the east and central parts of the Preserve dispelling many of the myths that have grown up locally and providing some thought provoking answers to the public’s curiosity about this wonderful landscape.
6/29, 8/30, 9/28

· The Story of the Hemish
· Come walk the sacred ground of the Valles Caldera with Jemez Pueblo elder Paul Tosa. Mr. Tosa was a four-term Governor for Jemez Pueblo and is a lifetime appointee to the Tribal Council. Paul will share his passion for the history and culture of his people and their ties to the entire Jemez Mountain Range. On this van tour, interspersed with short easy walks, Paul will take you to remembered places on the Caldera where he will share stories of the origin, migration, and survival-against-all-odds of the Hemish; stories that are essential to the preservation of their traditional way of life.
7/26, 8/9, 9/27

· Home, Home, on the Ranch
· Come spend a day with Preserve Interpreter Diana Sellers as we walk among the backcountry cabin ruins of the Valles Caldera. The Baca Location #1 was home to many persons who worked the land such as loggers, cowboys, and homesteaders. We'll journey by van into the beautiful backcountry of “The Baca” and explore the remains of cabins which were the homes for those individuals. One of these sites is a logging camp which contained 24 buildings, including a schoolhouse. We will envision their lives in this high-country land and the contributions they made to this special setting.
7/6, 8/14, 9/20

· The Heart of the Caldera
· Redondo Border is a scenic and remote area deep within the Valles Caldera National Preserve. If you’re ready to expand your view of the Preserve beyond the Valle Grande, then this tour is for you. Along the way, you’ll see stunning views of this quiet heartland. Join Interpreter Jim Burns on this five-hour combined van tour and hike. The high tour route offers six miles of non-stop vistas. Participants will hike from 1.5 to 2 miles through park-like portions along Redondo Border. Tour guide and author Jim Burns has enjoyed a decades-long, year-round relationship with the Jemez high country.
6/22, 7/13, 8/17, 9/21

· COMING SOON!
· Fungi of the Caldera in August / Dates will be announced shortly.
· Astronomy program in August, September and October / Dates will be announced shortly.
· Alamo Canyon guided hike in July, August and September / Dates will be announced shortly.
· Additional interpreted / guided programs to be announced later in the summer.